A variety of columns packed with adsorption carriers have been devised for removal/recovery of unnecessary components from liquids and gases. The structures of the columns can be divided, based on the flow of the medium, into two large groups: the axial flow and the radial flow. The axial flow is used mainly for analysis and fractionation by GC, HPLC, GPC, or the like, and the radial flow is used for body fluid processing columns and the like (JP 2004-41527 A). The radial flow is thought to be especially efficient from the viewpoint of contacting with the carrier, and products in which an adsorption carrier is wound around a central pipe are widely used in the field of extracorporeal circulation (WO 2000/38763).
However, in the conventional radial flow columns described in JP '527 and WO '763, gaps are generated at the inlet and outlet plates arranged above and below the adsorption carrier, and the medium preferentially flows through the gaps, which show no resistance. This causes bypassing, resulting in insufficient exertion of the capacity of the adsorption carrier in some cases. To avoid the bypassing, there are limitations, for example, that each pore on the central pipe cannot be provided in the vicinities of the plates. A countermeasure for the gaps is filling of the gaps with a resin, and urethane resins and epoxy resins are mainly used therefor (CELLSORBA (registered trademark), manufactured by Asahi Kasei Medical Co., Ltd.). Uniform application of urethane resins and epoxy resins requires a technique. Moreover, since they are in the forms of pastes, their operability under clean circumstances is poor and, when the adsorption carrier is wet, use of such resins is restricted so that the resins lack versatility. Furthermore, since a reactive base resin and a curing agent need to be mixed together to produce a resin immediately before the application, there is a possibility that the base resin or the curing agent reacts with the adsorption carrier to cause deterioration of the adsorption carrier, and there are also safety problems such as the irritant nature and harmfulness to operators so that a simpler method has been demanded.
It could therefore be helpful to provide a radial flow column in which an adsorption carrier is packed, wherein the adsorption carrier-packed radial flow column enables maximal exertion of the performance of the adsorption carrier contained therein by reducing bypassing and allowing uniform flow of the flowing liquid.